Monday, September 27, 2010

On Saturday, Funnelcloud Studio was a vendor at Art Market 316 at The Soundry in Vienna, Virginia. This was my first art market (which is also #126 crossed off my Life List), and despite the fact that it was a small market and the customers were few, I'm really glad I participated. Art Market 316 is a once-a-month market that is still in its infancy, and I think it is going to grow into a really great event once a little word of mouth and publicity help it expand. I got to meet the owner of The Soundry, Jennifer Crawford, who is super friendly, funny, and has such great ideas about the arts and the future of The Soundry!
The best thing about the whole day was chatting with the other vendors and meeting all sorts of artsy people. I was lucky enough to set up my table next to the extremely talented Ned of Maneating Flower. Ned is a printmaker who prints on upcycled leather and makes gorgeous leather-wrapped flasks, and she was so sweet to give me some amazing tips about art fairs, etsy, and where to buy supplies.

I also chatted with the super nice Susan of Ocean Sea, who shares my love of traveling through the National Parks. And I met Jon of Jon Fleming Photography, who is still in high school, but is already selling his photography!
The second best part of the art market? Bubba the Boston Terrier!
I have to admit, before I was invited to participate in the art market, I had never even heard of The Soundry - which is a shame because this place is right up my alley - it has an art studio, coffee (or in my case, smoothie and hot chocolate) shop, and stage for bands to play. Plus, the architect in me loves that it was built in a reclaimed auto garage - I love the roll-up door to the coffee shop, and I've always been a sucker for industrial spaces.I took a few breaks from my table to check out The Soundry facilities, with my camera in tow:How great is this piece by Lisa Wagner made of bicycle tire inner tubes?!
I'm so glad I went to this thing - having a deadline really lit a fire under my ass to get business cards and a banner made, and to think about how to display and package my work for selling in real life (as opposed to selling on the internet). I'm excited now to apply to some of the larger art markets - hopefully in time for the holiday season. And I'll definitely stop by The Soundry again the next time I'm in Vienna - nothing makes me happier than a mango smoothie, a garage door, and some art!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

It's the little things that make me happy and today I am happy about...a stamp. I've been ordering some more professional packaging and marketing materials for my shop (and for the upcoming Art Market 316) and today I got my custom Funnelcloud Studio stamp in the mail.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

I came home from vacation excited to sort through and edit the thousands of photos and videos I took...after every vacation I have the best intentions of organizing/sharing/printing my pics and creating a photo book...and after every vacation I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of photos and never finish any of my projects.

I have a good excuse this time.

I was busy working away on making a vacation video when I got an e-mail with some very unexpected and very good news.

Holy crap! Selling my art at an art market is something I've always wanted to do - but I thought I would have a little more than ten days to prepare! So I'm frantically trying to create some more art pieces, beef up my inventory, and create some marketing materials like business cards - things that I just hadn't gotten around to yet since my shop is still in its infancy! Now I've got to do it all under pressure - nothing like a tight deadline to force me to get things done!

Anyway, regardless of whether you're a blog reader or a friend, I hope you'll come out to Art Market 316 on Saturday, September 25. It's from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and is supposed to be located near the Vienna Farmers' Market - so you can pick up some late summer farmers' market treats and then check out the art! I have no idea what to expect, but please stop by my table and say hi - this is my first art market and I need all the encouragement I can get - plus I'd love to meet you!

That was the good news. The bad news is that my credit card number was stolen and some a-hole went on a shopping spree in New York City courtesy of me last week. And I have carpal tunnel in my left hand. The credit card has been cancelled and my wrist is in a brace, but it's rather hard to buy supplies and create new art with no access to my money and only one arm!

Since I'll be busy over the next week preparing for the art market, and since I probably should lay off the typing over the next few weeks, I thought I'd make up for the lack of writing by sharing some music. Larry introduced me to a series called Undercover on the AV Club website - 25 bands covered 25 different songs and the videos were posted once a week starting in March. I've become obsessed with watching the videos - here are my favorites:

Monday, September 13, 2010

We just got back from our annual beach trip to the Outer Banks. One of the best things about this vacation is that we can bring the dogs with us - the beaches are dog-friendly (and also beer-friendly, and in Nags Head, bonfire-friendly!).
Gravy went with us last year, but this was Banjo's first trip - which made the backseat of my little Mazda 3 rather cozy as Gravy is 85 pounds and Banjo weighs in at 72. (Add that to Larry's list of reasons we need a new/bigger car.)

Despite the fact that Banjo is smaller and can more easily curl up into a ball than Gravy Longlegs, he somehow manages to worm his way into the middle of the back seat, leaving poor Gravy folded into a sliver of space, often with his snout sticking straight up like a snorkel. Gravy is also a bit of a backseat driver. He likes to see where we're going and put his head over the front seats - which assures that the driver and front seat passenger will have hot dog breath, and worse, drool on their neck for the duration of the trip.

On the way home, Gravy figured out that he could have a little more space to stretch out if he draped his neck between the two front seats - and he fell asleep (complete with some REM nose-twitching and zombie eyes) with his head in the console cup holders for a good chunk of the ride.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

One of the interesting things about running an Etsy shop is determining which items catch people's attention. I am constantly checking my stats to see how many views each item has. And it seems that the brown zinnia is the least popular of the bunch.Do you like the brown zinnia? Do you like earth tones? If so, check it out in my shop!(And if you prefer the popular silver, blue, or red zinnia prints, those are available, too.)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

It's a really simple black and white block print of circles and squares, but I'm really loving the bold, blocky, handprinted character of the image - that's what block printing is all about!
P.S. It looks great in a simple black frame and the mat is included with purchase.